As beauty consciousness grows among people of all ages, an increasing number of men and women feel the need to look their best at all times. Hair styles serve as important part of a persona, because they are simultaneously public (visible to everyone), personal (biologically linked to the body), and highly malleable to suit cultural and personal preferences.
One way of enhancing the look of a particular hairstyle is by using hair extensions. Hair extensions, also known as “weft hair extensions,” add length and/or fullness to human hair. Extensions are a way to lengthen a person's hair by incorporating artificial hair or natural hair (collected from other individuals or from a person's own hair). There are many reasons men and women use extensions. Sometimes people desire longer hair or a greater volume of hair than they naturally have. Others gradually go bald, or have receding hair lines. A person may get a haircut and regret it later. Some people have difficulty growing hair beyond a certain length. Hair extensions can help them reach their desired length. Some people who do not want to damage their own natural hair with dye use hair extensions to add streaks of color.
Current methods for temporary hair augmentation include sew-ins, gluing, hair fusion, hair tape, metal coils, rubber bands, and hair clips. Each of these methods has substantial drawbacks, however. Attaching hair extensions using the sew-in method is a painful and painstaking process that involves a needle and thread to join hair extensions to a person's natural hair. Often, the needle pricks the scalp during the process of hair extension, and it is very time consuming. Gluing and hair fusion are similarly time consuming. These processes involve attaching small groups of hair to a person's own hair with a fixative. Hair tape is a fairly quick method of hair augmentation, but is not very reliable. For example, when a person's natural hair is oily, the adhesion is not very good. Metal coils and rubber bands are other time consuming hair augmentation methods that involve the addition of small quantities of hair to small clusters of a person's own hair. These methods involve pulling a person's natural hair at its roots, which is slow and risks loss of hair. Hair clips can be used to attach hair extensions quickly, and can be done by a person without going to a salon. However, hair clips are generally removed prior to going to bed because they are uncomfortable for sleeping. Because of this, the process has to be repeated daily.